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[image: putin murder.jpg] *Guest post by Mikhail Svetov* Two weeks ago Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was brutally murdered mere metres away from the Kremlin. ( https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/106971352/notpc/murderescene.jpg, http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/03/europe/russia-putin-critics/). Anyone who’s been involved in political activism in Russia knows that if you try as much as spreading a banner in front of the Kremlin, you will be apprehended in a matter of seconds by the Federal Security Service, Putin’s personal guard. ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article...more »

*Washington Post: **Viral video: Army private can’t figure out why his weapon won’t work* *February was a tough month to be a rank-and-file soldier training in the United States. The weather was bitterly cold in many states, but there are few reprieves from training that must be done.That brings us to this recent video, which went viral after being posted to Reddit. It shows a young Army private, seemingly bewildered that his rifle is empty. A patient, and yet clearly amused, drill sergeant points out that maybe, just maybe, his gun is out of ammunition.* *WNU Editor*: This Pri...more »

The Cuban date changer for president? You better sit down, kids. (Notice how the Koches are in love with all the Repub Gov learned dummies candidates.) My buddy at No More Mr. nails this one, and although several of us have also noticed this recently, he should get the credit for a brilliant exposition of how power works today and who will benefit (probably to our country's democratic demise).

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at the end of their news conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing November 12, 2014 (Reuters / Kevin Lamarque) *Zachary Keck, National Interest*: *Most Chinese Say Their Military Can Crush America in Battle* *The vast majority of Chinese citizens believe the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could seize islands in the East and South China Seas, even if the U.S. military were to intervene in the conflicts.* *No less than 87 percent of respondents said that the Chinese military already possessed t...more »

Apparently Libyan ISIS leader Abdelhakim Belhadj, *who the U.S., UK, and NATO supported in their war against Gaddafi*, didn't get the memo from Nabeel Naiem, a former al-Qaeda super agent and Egyptian jihadist who fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Naiem regretted his involvement in American-sponsored jihad in Afghanistan and has said on record in multiple interviews throughout the Arab world that the jihadists fighting in Syria and elsewhere are U.S. pawns who will be used up and dropped dead once their usefulness expires. Here is a quote from *one of his int...more »

At the height of teabagger-mania, a right-wing outfit in the L.A. area, the Patriots League, sent out an endorsement questionnaire to every single Republican running for Congress. We got our hands on some of the responses-- and they are pretty shocking. You want to know why 47 Republican senators could flirt so openly with sedition regarding Iran? The answers to the Patriots League's psychotic questions contain all you need to know about what these crackpots and paranoids have on their tiny minds. This IS today's Republican Party. The questionnaire starts by introducing the organi...more »

Supporters of the Russian Communist Party carry a model of an ammunition with the words “Privately to Obama” written on it. Anti-U.S. sentiments in Russia are at record highs, far worse than any time since Stalin. (Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters) *Washington Post*: *Russia’s anti-American fever goes beyond the Soviet era’s* *MOSCOW — Thought the Soviet Union was anti-American? Try today’s Russia.After a year in which furious rhetoric has been pumped across Russian airwaves, anger toward the United States is at its worst since opinion polls began tracking it. From ordinary street vendors...more »

ITAR-TASS/Reuters *Barbie Latza Nadeau, Daily Beast:* *Is Putin in Switzerland for Birth Of Secret Love Child?* *The Russian leader has been missing, prompting speculation he’s deathly ill—but Italian and Swiss media says he’s just been in Lugano for the birth of his baby.* *Russian president Vladimir Putin appears to be back at the Kremlin after a mysterious disappearance that had people wondering if the Russian leader might be seriously ill or at risk of a coup. But a Swiss newspaper says the Russian playboy was just in Lugano for the birth of his lovechild.* *In an article t...more »

Blake v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, 2015 ONCA 165: [53] Parties frequently use comprehensive document briefs in civil trials. As this court stated in *Iannarella v. Corbett*:[9] It is commonplace in civil actions for counsel to prepare a trial document brief containing documents that are admitted as authentic and admissible. See John Sopinka, *The Trial of an Action*, 2nd ed. (Markham: LexisNexis, 1998) at pp. 41-42. Counsel typically agree on a list of documents and one party attends to the brief's preparation. [54] When a document brief is tendered...more »

From *Wikipedia*: The Recruit is a 2003 American-German spy thriller film, directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Al Pacino, Colin Farrell and Bridget Moynahan. James Clayton (Colin Farrell), a computer programming expert at MIT, is offered an interview by senior Central Intelligence Agency instructor Walter Burke (Al Pacino) for a position with the Agency. After witnessing a demonstration of Clayton's skills, Burke tests Clayton with a puzzle encoded on the sports page of a newspaper. Clayton agrees to be recruited because he wants information about his missing father, whom he ...more »

*Video - *Watch what happens when Kevin Richardson treats wild lions and Hyenas as his brothers and sisters. Nature is amazing! The post Watch What Happens When Lion and Man Become Brothers appeared first on Waking Times.

"The W-shaped ridge of emission featured in this vivid skyscape is known as the Cygnus Wall. Part of a larger emission nebula with a distinctive outline popularly called The North America Nebula, the cosmic ridge spans about 20 light-years. Constructed using narrowband data to highlight the telltale reddish glow from ionized hydrogen atoms recombining with electrons, the two frame mosaic image follows an ionization front with fine details of dark, dusty forms in silhouette. *Click image for larger size.* Sculpted by energetic radiation from the region's young, hot, massive stars, th...more »

There was a fascinating *Start the Week *this week on the subject of mathematics and mathematicians. You might, being cynical, consider it an extended plug for this week's Radio 4 *Book of the Week - Birth of a Theorem *by 'rock star' French mathematician (and Liszt impersonator) Cedric Villani (brilliantly serialised by Radio 4 and pleasingly read by Julian Rhind-Tutt- the floppy-haired blond guy from *Green Wing)*. But it was fascinating in its own right. Cedric is a very good communicator. Despite being French, his English is impeccable (more impeccable than many English peo...more »

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/12/nsas_on_drugs_infosec_bods_unveil_space_grade_malware/ *Kaspersky claims to have found NSA's 'space station malware'* *Super-complex code collection had 116 spooky plug-ins* 12 Mar 2015 at 08:28, Darren Pauli Kaspersky malware probers have uncovered a new 'operating system'-like platform that was developed and used by the National Security Agency (NSA) in its Equation spying arsenal. The EquationDrug or Equestre platform is used to deploy 116 modules to target computers that can siphon data and spy on victims. "It's important to note that ...more »

The National Post devoted just 160 words to the news it had lost a defamation suit launched by Victoria climate scientist and Green MLA Andrew Weaver and had to pay him $50,000. Even that brief report didn’t come until two days after other media reported the B.C. Supreme Court decision. It was a striking contrast to the Post coverage when television personality Ezra Levant lost a similar defamation suit in November. That was big news and reported in an 800-word article. The piece had a catchy headline “Levant guilty of defamation, must pay $80K; 'Reckless.'” The lead was dramatic. ...more »

This week's *Sunday* pursued some familiar paths... ...breaking news from the Muslim world (Islamic Slade and Procol Haram getting together to sing *A More Gruesome Shade of Islam*), a bit of fluff about fashion and Pope Francis, yet more stuff about Pope Francis from a pair of Pope Francis fans (liheral Catholic Ed Stourton's *Sunday* is nothing if not keen on Pope Francis), something about a left-leaning charity celebrating an anniversary, plus a non-partisan left-wing campaign against the current coalition government's legal aid reforms (one-sided in its guest selection, inevit...more »

Jizo is looking a little less lonely in his nest of violets. We had a spate of rain and I took advantage of the changed condition to see about getting some greens out to the garden. These will be in the beds nearest the house in true kitchen garden fashion. Also they are vulnerable to slugs and can be inspected more easily. Trellises have been in these upper beds for the last two years so it is time to have them in the lower garden. I have already set up the one for Sugar Snap peas (planted last week) and green beans (not yet!). I also need one for scarlet runners and cucumbers, m...more »

*Ilene Prusher, Time:* *Is This the Man Who Could Beat Netanyahu and Become Israel’s Next PM?* *Isaac Herzog has maintained a lead in opinion polls but winning the election is not enough to become prime minister* *When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose to dissolve his government last November and call for new elections he didn’t expect a formidable challenge from the Labor party leader Isaac Herzog.* *Herzog is the closest thing Israel has to a patrician politician. His father, Chaim Herzog, was an Israeli army general and the sixth president of Israel and his grand...more »

When Angela Duckworth was shopping around for a graduate program in 2002, she read about Martin Seligman's positive psychology program at UPenn. Knowing no boundaries, she emailed him late one night, and Marty happened to be up, playing bridge online. One thing led to another, and the next day they had a face to face. Marty was so impressed that he got the UPenn to suspend their rules for admissions deadlines, and soon Angela was ensconced as Marty's protege in the doctoral psych program. Four years later, she had her PhD, and a year after that in 2007 she was appointed to a ten...more »

*“To Sleep, Perchance To Dream”* by Chet Raymo “What is more gentle than a wind in summer? What is more soothing than a pretty hummer That stays one moment in an open flower, And buzzes cheerily from bower to bower? What is more tranquil than a musk-rose blowing In a green island, far from all men's knowing? More healthful than the leafiness of dales? More secret than a nest of nightingales?” What indeed? The poet Keats answers his own questions: Sleep. Soft closer of our eyes. I've reached an age when I find myself occasionally nodding off in the middle of the day, an open book floppe...more »

“We're all going to die. We don't get much say over how or when, but we do get to decide how we're gonna live. So, do it. Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be? Can you be stronger? Kinder? More Compassionate? Decide. Breathe in. Breathe out and decide.” - “Richard”, “Grey’s Anatomy”

*Reuters: **Iraqi forces pause in battle to drive Islamic State from Tikrit * *(Reuters) - Frustrated by guerrilla tactics from Islamic State militants, Iraqi forces paused for reinforcements on Friday in a major offensive to take back the city of Tikrit.The operation appeared to have stalled for the time being, two days after Iraqi security forces and their mainly Shi'ite militia allies pushed into Tikrit, the home city of executed ex-president Saddam Hussein.A source in the military command said Iraqi forces would not move forward until reinforcements reached Tikrit, of whic...more »

I have to say that I didn't really warm to the initial moans on this week's *Newswatch*. A smattering of *Newswatch* viewers complained about the suspension of Jeremy Clarkson from the BBC being made the lead story on BBC News. They didn't think it merited the attention - or that the mass petition calling for his 'saving' should even have been reported. Given that petition (now nearing 900,000 signatures) and given the fact that vast swathes of the British public appear to have been talking about it (something I can vouch for), surely one day of Jezza leading the BBC News isn't...more »

C51 Day of Action protest tomorrow, Saturday March 14 Find the one nearest you on the map Only public pressure has any hope at all of shifting the Cons because they are definitely not listening to the C51 committee witnesses so we're gonna need something that looks like this. .

*Odds are that when you look up "pathological liar" in the dictionary, Scott Walker will be lying in the picture of him you find there.* *by Ken* The other day I mentioned in passing that I'm less concerned than I once was with whether a particular right-winger lies so much because the person really has some kind of fundamental brain dysfunction or because the person is simply a habitual liar. My point was that, practically speaking, does it matter? Take a simple case of Fox Noisemakers. It's hard to believe that Bill O'Reilly doesn't know he's a master con artist, that most of t...more »

Smoke rises over Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike, as seen from the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, October 18, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach *Eli Lake & Josh Rogin, Bloomberg*: *U.S. Exaggerates Islamic State Casualties* *The war against the Islamic State has killed thousands of fighters and even some mid-level battlefield commanders, but the organization's senior leadership and nerve center remain largely untouched, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.* *These off...more »

When we began this blog our aim was to be scrupulously fair to the BBC - even though we suspected that being *un*scrupulously *un*fair to the BBC might work better, given that no one (except, possibly, a Loadicean) really likes a Laodicean. So, persisting with that lukewarm spirit (and in spite of any potential spitting-out), I really, really feel the need to add something to our previous posts about Radio 4's annual series of *Lent Talks - *pieces I've been listening to for years. Our previous posts have laid out, in some detail, the programme's past record of (by and large) pro...more »

Australian Nick Vujicic is the actor in this short film, these are not CGI movie special effects, he has no limbs. Nick is motivational speaker in Southern California teaching people about love and courage.

* This is my guest article in No Tricks Zone yesterday. ---------- The Philippines enacted the Renewable Energy (RE) Act of 2008 (Republic Act 9513) that contains various subsidies to renewables like feed-in-tariff (FIT). While it was signed into law in December 2008, FIT was not implemented until July 2012 because many sectors including manufacturing opposed higher price on already expensive Philippine electricity rates. But the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Greenpeace and other environmental groups in the country lobbied hard to implement the FIT and the Energy Regulatory Commis...more »

There's good, single sheet newspaper out of Fredericton. You can can see it at info@nbmediacoop.org It's called The Brief. Currently it was a good story on our gift of forests to Irving. There's another good one on Maine residents who are objecting to an Irving request to weaken environmental regulations so he can open a mine. There isn't even a payoff in jobs - just in Irving profits. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's front-page, whiz bang headline and front-page story is pretty much the same one as yesterday. It wa...more »

by Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf On 3/13/15, at 10:54 AM, HeatherAnnTucciJarraf I wrote: MAGNIFICIENT DOINGS...EVERY ONE!!!!!! Lisa [S.] has eloquently heard and expressed the Heart of the multi-states of conscious in I Am: "It is time to work what we do in the yet unseen into the seen It is a weaving - the DOings must NOW move into the physical - There are so many possibilities - what DO we CHOOSE NOW to DO with the PHYSICAL beings inbody to help them bring what IS into physicality...... Whatever we CHOOSE - the energetic connection onto GAIA's Physical BEing - ALL IN BODY - F...more »

The Club of Rome was formed in 1968. It included big shots and experts from 25 nations. Social and environmental challenges had grown beyond the ability of individual countries to manage. It was time to study the big issues, and develop strategies for dealing with them. Their research began with the Project on the Predicament of Mankind. In 1972, *Limits to Growth* was published, authored by Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and Dennis Meadows. (Hereis a free PDF of the book.) They developed a computer model that allowed them to tinker with variables like population, food, pol...more »

A fighter with the Free Syrian Army fires a weapon during clashes with forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on Sunday. (REUTERS/Rami Zayat) *Washington Post:* *Pentagon leaves door open to strikes against Syrian regime* *Top Pentagon leaders on Wednesday left the door open to the possibility of American military strikes against Syrian forces to protect U.S.-trained rebels, but cautioned that no decisions have been made.* *Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter both acknowledged that the United St...more »

Free Syrian Army fighters prepare mortar shells before firing towards forces loyal to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad on the outskirts of Doreen town, in Jabal al-Akrad area in Syria's northwestern Latakia province, March 8, 2015. Alaa Khweled/Reuters *USA Today:* *U.S. nowhere in fielding rebel force in Syria* *WASHINGTON — As Syria enters a fifth year of civil war, a U.S. plan to build a force of "moderate" rebels to overthrow President Bashar Assad's regime is still far from the field.* *The White House announced eight months ago that it will create the opposition force, y...more »

*“Congress’s Approval Rating No Longer Detectable by Current Technology”* by Andy Borowitz WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – “After a challenging week for the legislative body, the approval rating of the United States Congress has shrunk to a point where it is no longer detectable by the technology currently available, a leading pollster said on Friday. Davis Logsdon, who heads the highly regarded Opinion Research Institute at the University of Minnesota, said that his polling unit has developed highly sensitive measurement technology in recent years to gauge Congress’s popularity...more »

*“What Can You Trust When Trust Disappears?”* by Bill Bonner Gualfin (“End of the Road”), Argentina - “US stocks went up big-time yesterday. Why? We don’t know. But sooner or later, we know they will go down. And the Fed will print money to buy stocks. Sound crazy? Tune in on Monday… In the meantime, more about what will happen when a real crash comes… In a real financial crisis, people reach for something real to hold on to. Following the Crash of 1929, for instance, Americans ran to their banks and took out so much cash that 10,000 banks closed. They were out of money. In the...more »

*As the pre-primary season begins, it becomes obvious to me that Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton are relics from our political past and Elizabeth Warren is a gathering fresh breeze for our rapidly changing political climate. Jeb looks old, wane and somewhat conscious of the impossible burden his name carries. Hillary has so much political baggage that it may never get unpacked and many are having second thoughts about her political leanings and presidential ambitions. That leaves the stage open for Senator Elizabeth Warren who will soon be making her presence felt on the national sta...more »

It's hard to keep a clear head sometimes when trying to write about party politics. After all, few people are disinterested observers. (Declaration: I'm very sympathetic to UKIP but will almost certainly be voting Conservative to keep out an Israel-hating, *Charlie Hebdo-*disrespecting (Muslim) Labour candidate imposed from afar. The bookies are tipping her to win in Morecambe.) BBC presenters/reporters, however, are meant to pull off the conjuring trick of appearing disinterested. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't. I don't think Carolyn Quinn and Norman Smith pulled i...more »

*Yesterday Howie pondered, "Did Boehner Lose Netanyahu His Reelection By Bringing Him To Washington?," and looked at the surprising reports coming out of Israel regarding prospects for the March 17 election. Meanwhile, the reports that Bibi may be in trouble already had our colleague GP pondering too.* -- Ed. *Snapshot of polls by party just prior to Israel's 2015 election (source). Click to enlarge.* *by Gaius Publius* It seems that the smooth-sailing-to-reelection predicted for Benjamin Netanyahu by Uri Avnery and others may have been premature. To recap, the Israeli election ...more »

Source: Wikimedia *Wall Street Journal:* *U.S. Suffers First Soldier Injury in Renewed Iraq Military Action* *Soldier treated for minor wounds received in attack on training base, immediately returned to duty* *WASHINGTON—A U.S. soldier received minor wounds in an attack on a training base in central Iraq, the first such injury sustained by a member of the American military since Washington sent troops back into the country last year.* *The wounds from the March 11 attack were minor, involving a laceration to the face, said Col. Steve Warren, the chief Pentagon spokesman. The un...more »

*FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015Part 5—Our tribe’s epistemic capture:* The nation’s professors have never seemed as sad as they do this morning. When we awoke, the analysts handed us this full-length report in the New York Times. It describes the decades our professors have spent exploring the happiness gap, which is said to be “small,” or may not exist at all. Yes, that’s right—the happiness gap! The possible gap in happiness between our red and blue tribes! We’ll summarize the professorial foolishness, foolishness which Erica Goode reported with a straight face: For decades, the profes...more »

http://newsfeed.time.com/ Mike Duffy's trial starts in three weeks. And wouldn't you know it? Nigel's Wright's name is back in the news -- not for his role in the Duffy Affair, but for the role he played in the awarding a contract to a man John Baird has called "a dear friend." Michael Harris writes: A Jewish community centre in Markham applied for a federal grant from the federal Department of Human Resources to pay for an expansion to its facilities under the Enabling Accessibility Fund. Totally cool. Public Works Minister Diane Fi...more »

*Does this mark a change in US policy to Venezuela? It seems that they are acting on the behalf of Venezuela in this case... -AK* http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/entire-board-of-spanish-bank-resigns-amid-money-laundering-probe-667278.html *Entire board of Spanish bank resigns amid money laundering probe * 12/03/2015 - 13:34:53 The entire board of Spain’s Banco de Madrid has resigned after its Andorran owner was accused by the US of money laundering for clients from China, Russia and Venezuela. The bank’s seven-member board held a special meeting and unanimously asked ...more »

*ABC News*: *Top US Military Official Repeatedly Warned Iraq About Troops’ Conduct* *America’s top military official, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, repeatedly warned Iraqi leaders about the conduct of both the Iraqi military and the militias that fight alongside them, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.* *The Iraqi government says it has launched an investigation into alleged atrocities committed by Iraqi troops and Shia militias, some captured in a trove of images and footage found online, as revealed in an ABC News investigation Wednesday. Today State ...more »

*NBC*: *40 Iraqi Soldiers Die After ISIS Plants 300 IEDs Under Anbar Army HQ* *BAGHDAD — More than 40 Iraqi soldiers were killed after ISIS militants dug a mile-long tunnel under a local army headquarters and planted around 300 explosives under the base, a top regional official told NBC News Friday. The IEDs caused a "huge" explosion at the site in Iraq's Anbar province on Thursday morning, chairman of the region's governing council Sabah Karhoot said via telephone.* *The building also sustained considerable damage, he added. "ISIS militants needed a long time to dig this tunnel...more »

Meanwhile, back in reality, have you noticed the price of food going up continually? A personal observation, if you will... I usually buy a box of hamburgers at the WalMart Superstore, 32 patties, 8 lbs., last month the price was $28.98. The other day something looked odd about the box size, smaller... what? Now you get 24 patties, 6 lbs. for exactly the same $28.98! Slick move, WalMart! Delighted to add to *each* Walton heir's $60 billion personal fortune! And how are YOU doing, Good Citizen?

*“3 Biggest Myths Blinding Us to Economic Truth"* You need to watch this. By Robert Reich “*1.* The “job creators” are CEOs, corporations and the rich, whose taxes must be low in order to induce them to create more jobs. Rubbish. The real job creators are the vast middle-class and the poor, whose spending induces businesses to create jobs. Which is why raising the minimum wage, extending overtime protection, enlarging the Earned Income Tax Credit, and reducing middle-class taxes are all necessary. *2. *The critical choice is between the “free market” or “government.” Baloney. The f...more »

*Reuters*:* Iraqi offensive to dislodge Islamic State from Tikrit appears to stall* *(Reuters) - The offensive to retake Tikrit appeared to stall on Friday, two days after Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi'ite militia pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants.* *A source in the Salahuddin Operations Command said Iraqi forces would not move forward until reinforcements reached Tikrit, of which Islamic State still holds around half. * *Using guerrilla warfare tactics, the militants have turned the city into a labyrinth of home...more »

------------------------------ Russia’s Remarkable Renaissance By F. William Engdahl Region: Russia and FSUGlobal Research, March 10, 2015 Theme: Culture, Society & History New Eastern Outlook *Something remarkable is taking place in Russia, and it’s quite different from what we might expect. Rather than feel humiliated and depressed Russia is undergoing what I would call a kind of renaissance, a rebirth as a nation. This despite or in fact because the...more »

*The Guardian:* *North Korea fires volley of missiles into sea as South and US continue drills* *Regime leader Kim Jong-un personally supervised show of force, says Seoul, with seven missiles coming down off east coast* *North Korea fired seven ground-to-air missiles into the sea off its east coast on Thursday in an operation supervised by leader Kim Jong-un, the defence ministry in the South said, amid heightened tensions accompanying joint military exercises involving the US.* *A ministry spokesman said Kim was understood to have been on hand when the missiles were fired early ...more »

Source: Planeta UFO Date: 03.12.2015 Argentina: No UFOs in Rio Cuarto, Just Drones. As if dealing with Photoshopped hoaxes and "Blurfos" wasn't bad enough, a wave of drone aircraft - civilian and military - have entered the picture. This is clearly happening now in Argentina, where *Telediariodigital.com.ar* managed to find an explanation to the rash of sightings over Rio Cuarto. You guessed it: drones. The following appears on their website, *http://www.telediariodigital.net/2015/03/afirman-que-el-ovni-de-rio-cuarto-era-un-drone/* : *The images captured last week by residents o...more »

*Three silly patsies* This is how my tax dollars are being spent. CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Services) seems to be getting into the "patsy business". According to this report it is helping young girls go and fight in ISIS. You won't be reading about this in the CBC which is putty in the hands of CSIS. Here is the report in the Toronto Sun. CSIS has been around for about 30 years now and it has always been up to no good. It was heavily involved in the "Air India Bombing" ....yet another downed passenger airliner mystery that was never solved. *'...On 23 June 198...more »

*“Weekly News Wrap-Up 3/13/15”* By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com “The war situation in Ukraine continues to ratchet up. The U.S. is sending more military hardware to the region and pushing for a fresh round of new sanctions. The Russians, according to Zerohedge.com, are hinting at deploying nukes in Crimea, but the Russians have “no plans to do so.” As the situation heats up, Germany is getting more worried a wider war will break out. NATO General Philip Breedlove said, “What is clear is that right now, it is not getting better. It is getting worse every day.” Germany doesn’t fee...more »

A general view shows a damaged street with sandbags used as barriers in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district March 6, 2015. Credit: Reuters/Hosam Katan *Reuters*: *Resignation and despair in cradle of Syrian revolt* *(Reuters) - At a new graveyard in a Jordanian border town near the southern Syrian city of Deraa, burial space is already running out.* *The "Syrian Martyr's Cemetery" accepts victims from the city across the frontier where Syria's civil war first broke out four years ago, which no longer has a functioning graveyard of its own since its cemetery has become a battlefield.* ...more »

Thursday, March 12, 2015 *Perceiving Energy Fields** - Arcturian/ Galactic Message * Many of you are having problems with your memory. You may not be sure if that problem is because you are increasingly slipping into the NOW, or if you are having an issue with your earth vessel. For many of you, this “issue” has arisen because you are thinking multidimensionally with your 3D brain. Your 3D brain was not created to think multidimensionally. But, because your consciousness is expanding beyond the limitations of the physical world, you need to “shift gears” into the multidimensio...more »

*NBC News*: *Iran's Qasem Soleimani Is Guiding Iraqi Forces in Fight Against ISIS* *As Iraqi forces attempt to root ISIS out of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, a general known for his military might and political prowess has stepped out of the shadows to shepherd the fight.* *But the man known as the "Shadow Commander" and "Dark Knight" in Western media is not Iraqi — he's a loyal commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. * *Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 13, 2015* Qasem Soleimani, Iran's most powerful man in Iraq, seen on video -- Rudaw Analysis: Iran is no ...more »

Leading security and privacy researcher Bruce Schneier talks about about the golden age of surveillance and his new book, "Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World." The book chronicles how governments and corporation have built an unprecedented surveillance state. While the leaks of Edward Snowden have shed light on the National Security Agency’s surveillance practices, less attention has been paid to other forms of everyday surveillance — license plate readers, facial recognition software, GPS tracking, cellphone metadata and data mining.

I have almost zero faith in the efficacy of protests anymore. But some government behaviour is so egregious that one simply must stand to be counted. At least when subsequent generations read about us in their history books, they'll have seen that some people weren't so ignorant and apathetic or deluded. If that's all we accomplish tomorrow, so be it. I'll be at the protest in Toronto.

*Sayer Ji* - A new study adds to an already extensive body of research that the rapidly expanding gluten free movement is not a fad as critics claim. The post Gluten-Free Movement is No Fad – Here’s Why it Can Benefit Anyone appeared first on Waking Times.

*RT*: *Guantanamo prisoners now throwing feces, urine, sperm & vomit at guards* *Detainees at the US Guantanamo Bay prison have resorted to assaulting guards with bodily fluids, top marine general John Kelly said at a Senate committee. * *Kelly gave a description of the assaults on Thursday at a press briefing, following an announcement earlier. “They [the detainees] concoct a cocktail. Usually its feces, urine, sperm, vomit… When the guard comes to, say, take their trash… they will splash them.” * *According to the general, prisoners housed in single cells are usually the ones...more »

I have been scoffing at the 3D printing revolution mostly out of ignorance and a concern about what the machines must eat to produce stuff, but no more. Thanks to Iron Man, I am now realizing that the potential of 3D printing is not limited by what goes into the machines (not paper, right?) but […]

The Tax Justice Network has just inaugurated a new blog, Fools' Gold. It just came out with an excellent piece on taxes and Irish economic success in the "Celtic Tiger" era, written by Nick Shaxson. As I argued in 2011 and in my book *Investment Incentives and the Global Competition for Capital*, Ireland had low taxes for decades with nothing to show for it, with no improvement relative to EU-15 GDP per capita in 1958-87. The Fools' Gold piece updates the data to 2013. Take a look at its Chart 1, which provides a great visualization of Irish income per capita, tax rates, and develop...more »

Lockheed Martin F-35 jet fighter (Reuters/U.S. Marine Corps/DVIDS/Cpl. Shelby Shields) *Mandy Smithberger, War Is Boring:* *F-35 Still Years Away From Being Ready for Combat* *America’s new fighter jet is plagued with engine, software and fuel tank problemsThe F-35 continues to fail the most basic requirements for combat aircraft and common sense. Despite reforms, the F-35 continues to be unaffordable, its engines continue to be susceptible to fire, and the Pentagon continues to misrepresent its performance.Below are just a few of the issues identified in a recent report from ...more »

A must watch by all - excellent video on US regime change operative (and Ambassador to Ukraine) Geoffrey R. Pyatt. Reveals how governments are toppled for corporate interests. The video explores Pyatt's regime change and destabilization experiences in Honduras, Pakistan, Hong Kong and India before moving on to Kiev. Can you see the patterns emerging here?

*because we all know the best way to calm a situation is to go on a third rate crappy entertainment show to stoke the flames of unrest.* Please note the pencil necked president sitting lower than the host of the show appearing like the weak, feckless twit he is. I've heard that Valjar carries his cojones around in a briefcase. Mark my words: Ferguson will be ground zero for a nationalized police force. *Now listen to a real man*. Sheriff David Clarke on Obama's "condolence" tweet: “That might score him points with hipsters, but it’s not going over real big with me and it...more »

*Heather Callaghan* - In 2015, this is by no means the first time a relationship between ADHD and fluoride has been determined. The post Fluoride in Water Linked to More ADHD Symptoms – Study appeared first on Waking Times.

*Guest post by Allan:* Tomorrow - *Saturday, March 14* - there will be protests across Canada against Stephen Harper's latest assault on democracy and free speech - Bill C-51 ("The Anti-terrorism Act 2015"). While Harper states the bill would merely "criminalize the promotion of terrorism" and give the government the power to remove "terrorist propaganda" from the internet, left unanswered is who defines "terrorism" and "terrorist propaganda". The bill is written in such overly broad terms it could be applied to nearly anything the Conservative government wants to deem criminal. ...more »

It's a glorified public relations campaign - Madison Avenue created I am sure. Only the best propaganda experts are used in creating this program to convince the public across the west that we (the 'defenders of truth, democracy and justice') must prepare for war with the Russian bear.

Source: SIPSE and Planeta UFO Date: 03.12.2015 *Mexico: Uproar in Mérida Following UFO Sightings* *By Jorge Moreno, SIPSE* MERIDA, YUCATAN - Perhaps as a result of the last two "UFO skywatches" people have become more inclined to look at the heavens, causing a notable increase in UFO reports in the city of Mérida. I have received 21 cases throughout February and up to this date in March, both by phone and e-mail. Never before had I received so many reports in that brief span of time, showing the interest that the subject has caused among Meridans in recent dates. Another factor co...more »

Well well well..... Let's see if the American Media report on THIS Major Piece of Breaking News. "Secretary-General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Ernesto Samper said this week that the body rejects *“any attempt at internal or external interference that attempts to disrupt the democratic process in Venezuela.”* The 12-nation bloc has agreed to hold a high-level meeting on March 14 in Quito, Ecuador, to discuss how to go about responding the new measures. The ad hoc meeting was announced urgently by Correa shortly after Obama’s remarks on how Venezuela is a threa...more »

Last month, when Barbara Mikulski announced she wouldn't be seeking reelection to the Senate in 2016, Blue America began a Draft Donna Edwards campaign. It was very successful in terms of helping inspire a dozen other groups to jump in on behalf of Donna and in helping start the very tough campaign fundraising slog Donna will face, and, of course, in helping persuade Donna to give up a safe House seat and try for the much tougher Senate race. As John Nichols explained in The Nation yesterday, "it is not often that a serious contender for a US Senate seat announces her candidacy wi...more »

*Forbes*: *Most Americans Now Support Sending Ground Troops To Fight ISIS* *Over half of Americans would now support the United States sending ground troops to battle ISIS. That’s the result of a YouGov poll conducted in early March. One of the key reasons 53 percent of people are in favour of ground troops is that there are few viable alternatives.* *Even though air strikes in Iraq and Syria have stalled the momentum of ISIS militants, less than one in four Americans believe they can be defeated through air power alone. Democrats are divided when it comes to supporting an Ameri...more »

Photo: World Affairs Board *David Archibald, American Thinker*: *Why China Will Lose the War It is Planning* *How do we know the war is coming in the first place? Because the advertising for it is out. Amongst plenty of other evidence, one Chinese front organisation conducted a poll on Australian attitudes to the ANZUS treaty and a Chinese attack on Japan. Why would they conduct such a poll unless they are going to attack Japan? Not that they were interested in the results as such. They just wanted to be able to publicize the poll in order to try to keep Australia on the sidelin...more »

Young Adult Psychological Outcome After Puberty Suppression and Gender Reassignment De Vries et al *Pediatrics *peds.2013-2958; published ahead of print September 8, 2014, RESULTS: After gender reassignment, in young adulthood, the GD was alleviated and psychological functioning had steadily improved. Well-being was similar to or better than same-age young adults from the general population. Improvements in psychological functioning were positively correlated with postsurgical subjective well-being.

So you want a smart watch, huh? Good for you. But which one? The Apple Watch sounds pretty awesome, and it's an Apple product so it's going to be great, right? Not so fast. In a previous post I explored smart watches as a technology and questioned whether or not you really need one. But if your heart is set on a smart watch, it's worthwhile to spend some time looking at the the pros and cons of the major players in the smart watch industry. There are three key players in the smart watch world: - Apple Watch - Pebble - Android Wear Apple Watch is the most recent entrant ...more »

*Infographic - *Coconut oil has long been proven to provide multiple health benefits. Here are 25 reasons why you should use it on a regular basis. The post Top 25 Reasons to Use Coconut Oil appeared first on Waking Times.

Heather Callaghan Unfortunately, many Americans simply skim headlines. They might even share information based solely on headlines. And it's almost like both the media and research communities know this when they choose a headline. Especially when they choose headlines that have a deliberately opposite meaning than the content therein. When this writer came across headlines that suggested a new genetically engineered soybean oil was healthier to humans than conventional soybean oil - she just had to bite and see what is the newest GMO claim. "How healthy is genetically modified s...more »

Sigmund Fraud Cleverly at work for the dark side, the corporate media isn’t going into great detail about the recent discovery that the Chicago Police Department has for years been operating a secret, off-site, extra-judicial, unconstitutional detention and interrogation center in a nondescript warehouse on the West side of the Windy City. Americans, so the talking heads would have us believe, have more important things to busy ourselves with. The protest against this outrage is growing, however, because at Homan Square, as it’s known, the local police ‘disappear’ American citize...more »

Joshua Krause After the ATF attempted to add the popular M855 green tip ammo to its list of restricted armor piercing munitions, there was widespread backlash against the move by the public. But barely a week after the ban was proposed, the ATF has already pulled back from its controversial decision. They’ve decided to postpone any action against the M855 round, after receiving 80,000 comments from the public, most of which were “critical” of their proposal. Yesterday morning, the agency announced on Twitter “You spoke, we listened. @*ATFHQ* plans more study on the proposed AP Am...more »

Mac Slavo The former director of the SEC, John Ramsay, has stepped out to warn that market is rigged, and that the system is headed for a major correction “one way or another.” Today’s financial ‘ecosystem’ is a set up for unfair advantage to those playing a game *controlled by high frequency trading* (run by automated computer algorithms) and secret ‘dark pool’ investors, as Ramsay sees it. Bloomberg reports: *The SEC’s current trading rules, known as Regulation NMS, are partly responsible for the flourishing of high-frequency trading and the dispersion of trading across more th...more »

Michael Snyder Just a few days ago, the bull market for the S&P 500 turned six years old. This six-year period of time has been great for investors, but what comes next? On March 9th, 2009 the S&P 500 hit a low of 676.53. Since that day, it has risen more than 200 percent. As you will see below, there are only two other times within the last 100 years when the S&P 500 performed this well over a six-year time frame. In both instances, the end result was utter disaster. And as you take in this information, I want you to keep in mind what I said in my previous article entitled "...more »

Yes, the Wheels are definitely falling off the "ISIS PsyOp" bus right now! As I wrote yesterday: BREAKING NEWS: Turkey FM arrests SPY who aiding 3 UK girls into Syria *The Evidence Is Piling Up Rather Quickly Now, Isn't It?As I have been covering on Transpicuous News, more and more Politicians and world leaders are calling out the US for what they are: A Terrorist Organization..........T'would seem that the US is trying to really stir up bullshit everywhere, aren't they? Has the time finally arrived when the world turns its back on the US Bully Boy, and names them for what ...more »

*Uploaded on April 15, 2011* Follow Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TSOPhotography Follow Twitter: http://twitter.com/TSOPhotography Follow Google+: https://plus.google.com/1075434606581... Press/licensing/projects contact: tsophotography@gmail.com If you can not watch, or want higher quality watch: http://vimeo.com/22439234 This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide. Spain´s highest mountain @(3718m) is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one ...more »

*Link to a nice article:* yesterday, the Quanta Magazine published Mathematicians Chase Moonshine’s Shadow, with the subtitle "Researchers are on the trail of a mysterious connection between number theory, algebra and string theory", which covers the history and some recent events in the moonshine industry. The latest episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Leftover Thermalization" (S08E18), was solving a much more serious sociological problem in science than what you would expect from a comedy watched by almost 20 million Americans. I start to see it was a great idea not to "abandon...more »

Melissa Melton With all this talk about mandatory vaccination, a lot more parents are discussing homeschool as an option (while that option is still available). Besides, how much propaganda do we really want to expose our children to on their path to adulthood anyway? That being said, the story I’m about to discuss out of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) shows the enormity of what homeschooling parents truly are up against in this country. Let me back up just a bit by saying that yours truly dropped out of high school. I could wax on about how I regret missing my...more »

Source Brandon Turbeville Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in late 2010, I have been writing repeatedly that there are no “moderate rebels” in Syria. Many other credible researchers and even mainstream news organizations, albeit significantly after the fact, have made similar statements in their own writings. In fact, I have even gone so far as to suggest that, if such a thing as a moderate rebel in Syria actually exists, then he must be brought forward for analysis. After all, such a rare and mysterious being must be thoroughly studied so as to determine if he is a fr...more »

Heather Callaghan Believe it or not, people have protested the mass medication of the public through drinking water all along. The fluoride in tap water - although touted as healthy and safe - is nothing more than the "legal" unregulated way for chemical companies to unload their waste. *And we pay for that privilege.* Last year, a highly contested Harvard research study published in *The Lancet* implied that water fluoridation is not only ineffective for teeth but is a neurotoxin associated with ADHD and other neurodevelopmental issues. It has also been associated with a signifi...more »

By Carey Wedler Hillary Clinton becoming the next President of the United States will lead to the greatest political awakening America has ever seen. Visit InRogue.co *Get truth delivered to your inbox every week.* Subscribe to GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING by Email

By Mike Adams We have already seen what happens when the state claims ownership of our bodies. Millions die. As the vaccine culture war heats up in America, echoes of medical fascism persist. A medical system that demands your obedience at gunpoint can never be trusted. Visit NaturalNews.com *Get truth delivered to your inbox every week.* Subscribe to GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING by Email

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) credit: Talk Radio News Service/Flickr By Ron Wyden U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore. issued the following statement after voting against the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act during a Senate Intelligence Committee markup today: “Cyber-attacks and hacking against U.S. companies and networks are a serious problem for the American economy and for our national security. It makes sense to encourage private firms to share information about cybersecurity threats. But this information sharing is only acceptable if there are strong protections for the privacy righ...more »

.... and the April 28 AmCham Taichung dinner features an internet entrepreneur. _______________________ [Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

[image: Rafale M]Dassault Aviation chief executive officer Eric Trappier announced yesterday during a press conference that the French company has replied to a request for information from the Indian Navy on the naval Rafale M single-seat carrier-capable variant of its fighter. India and France are in final negotiation for the procurement of 126 Rafale fighters for the Indian Air Force. Indian Navy's current (INS Vikramaditya, INS Viraat) and near term (INS Vikrant) aircraft carriers are all fitted with a ramp for STOBAR type operations (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery). Read ...more »

[image: F-35 AL-1]History was achieved today when the first Italian F-35A Lightning II rolled out of the Cameri Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility, marking the first F-35A assembled internationally and the first of eight aircraft currently being assembled. The aircraft, designated as AL-1, will now proceed to additional check-out activities before its anticipated first flight later this year. The rollout exhibits the ongoing strong partnership between the Italian Ministry of Defense, industry partner Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi, and Lockheed Martin. Read more

Gaur v. Datta, 2015 ONCA 151: [8] The tort of defamation requires the plaintiff to prove three elements: (1) the defendant made a defamatory statement, in the sense that the impugned words would tend to lower the plaintiff's reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person; (2) the words in fact refer to the plaintiff; and (3) the words were communicated to at least one person other than the plaintiff: *Guergis v. Novak*, 2013 ONCA 449, 116 O.R. (3d) 280, at para. 39; *Grant v. Torstar Corp.*, 2009 SCC 61, [2009] 3 S.C.R. 640, at para. 28; see also *Lysko*, at para. 91. [9] ...more »

[image: Ceres satelite]The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has selected Thales and Airbus Defence and Space as co-prime contractors for the design and construction of France's future military spaced-based signals intelligence (SIGINT) system, which is due to enter service by 2020. In addition to its role as overall system co-prime contractor, Thales has responsibility for the mission payload on board the satellites and for the user ground segment in charge of programming the satellites and the data processing. CERES (*Capacité de Renseignement Electromagnétique d’origine Spa...more »

I'm this close to tying up and completing the final parts of the dual 'Free Planet vs War World' trilogies and I'm thinking, "Should I just abduct the books and hold them for ransom until my death?" Has an author ever done this before, held the release of his final books in a dual-trilogy so that he denies the reader the resolution the earlier books flirted with? I mean, don't get me wrong, this isn't a device to cover 'writer's block' or something. These final books in the series' Reaper (free planet #3) and Kumiko "war world #3) are as much as done, bar a bit of typing in then ...more »

[image: UH-60M Black Hawk]The nation is to send 32 pilot-instructors to the US for flight training on UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters later this year as part of a bilateral arms purchase agreement, but legislators continue to question the government’s decision to allocate some of the new choppers to rescue and disaster-relief missions. Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) said the pilot-instructor groups are to head to the US in July for the five-month training program and return to Taiwan at the end of the year, accompanying the delivery of another new batch of the helicopters....more »

[image: BrahMos II hypersonic missile]The Indian Army, Navy and Air Force have all come together and agreed to fund and purchase the next generation of BrahMos missiles which will be smaller, lighter and travel at hyperonic speeds. The United States of America (X51), Rusia (GLL-AP-02) and China (WU14) have all made attempts in unmanned scramjet demonstration flights which will lead to their hypersonic flights in future. India aims to be the first country in the world to develop a hyperonic missile. Currently there are 14 research facilities in India that are aiding the development ...more »

[image: Shaheen missile]The growing disparity and asymmetry in South Asia is favorable to India yet challenging for Pakistan. India’s rising nuclear and conventional ambitions have enforced Pakistan to build up its nuclear capabilities to ensure the credibility of its nuclear deterrence. Previously, India’s doctrinal transformation and ballistic missile defense capabilities which are rapidly maturing, have indulged Pakistan in miniaturization of warheads. Lately, the evolving South Asian regional security dynamics in Modi’s regime is coercing Pakistan to develop full spectrum cred...more »

[image: Kim Jong-un]North Korea fired seven ground-to-air missiles into the sea off its east coast on Thursday in an operation supervised by leader Kim Jong-un, the defence ministry in the South said, amid heightened tensions accompanying joint military exercises involving the US. A ministry spokesman said Kim was understood to have been on hand when the missiles were fired early on Thursday evening from a site near the eastern town of Sondok. The exercise came at a time of elevated tensions with North Korea’s condemnation of annual US-South Korea military drills that Pyongyang view...more »

[image: AgustaWestland Apache AH1]An urgent campaign is reportedly under way to persuade the Government not to buy helicopters from abroad. Yeovil-based helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland is said to have persuaded the Ministry of Defence to delay a decision on awarding a £1 billion Army contract to replace its Apache attack helicopters until September 2016. It was reported on Friday that the MoD wants to replace its fleet with machines supplied by US manufacturer Boeing for around £20 million per craft – below the price AgustaWestland is said to be offering. Read more

[image: Saab Gripen E/F]Saab announced Wednesday that it has finalized 36 Brazilian Next Generation Gripen fighter aircraft contract for US$ 4.55 Billion (SEK 39.3 billion). The contract involves the purchase of a complete turnkey weapon system, and the total package includes training, spare parts, support, planning and maintenance. “Brazil chose Saab because it wanted to have the very latest technological developments while driving its own industry forward,” says Mikael Franzén, program manager for Gripen in Brazil. Read more

[image: Su-30MKI Flanker]As recently reported by the Times of India, Ministry of Defence of India is considering to break the contract with France for the purchase of 126 French fighters Rafale and intends to invest $25 billion into the development of the fifth-generation fighter FGFA with Russia. Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko spoke about the reasons for such a decision in his interview to Pravda newspaper. According to him, France has demonstrated itself as an unreliable partner. The Mistrals case undermined the reputation of Paris as a reliable supplier who is able to...more »

[image: NATO E-3A Sentry]Boeing recently completed the first flight of a NATO Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft with modern flight deck and avionics systems that replace 1970s-era analog systems. During the two-hour flight on Dec. 31 testers evaluated five full-color glass displays with customizable engine, navigation and radar data. The systems performed better than expected and the program will now enter an extensive flight test qualification phase. Fourteen NATO AWACS in total will receive the flight deck modernization, delivery of the first upgraded aircraft i...more »

[image: USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)]The Navy’s newest aircraft carrier will begin its service to the nation at Naval Station Norfolk, providing an economic boost to the region, several congressmen announced Thursday. The first-in-class Gerald R. Ford, built at Newport News Shipbuilding, is still undergoing final outfitting and testing at the shipyard. It is expected to join the fleet next year and sail rom Norfolk for at least the next several years, the congressmen said. Meanwhile, a $30 million upgrade to the Navy’s amphibious base at Little Creek has paid dividends, the congressm...more »

[image: Jean Claude Juncker]Across Europe, nations are reevaluating their military policies in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In some countries the assessments are major, others minor, but there’s no mistaking the activity sweeping across Europe. The trend was most clearly demonstrated by European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who called for the EU to create an army. He told German newspaper Die Welt that “a common European army would convey a clear message to Russia that we are serious about defending our European values.” His statements received broad...more »

The U.S. has urged Vietnam to stop letting Russia refuel military planes at a key Vietnamese base because of concerns it could raise tensions in the Asia-Pacific, the State Department said Thursday. That could put some strain on growing ties between Hanoi and Washington. U.S. officials have said in recent months that Russia has increased air patrols around Japan and South Korea, and is operating as far as the California coast and U.S. territory of Guam. The State Department did say that it is aware of an agreement allowing Russia to operate Il-78 refueling planes out of Cam Ranh B...more »

[image: HMS Gävle]Sweden's Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist has announced that the country's navy is upgrading its fleet of ships in order to improve its ability to locate rogue submarines in Swedish waters, following a huge search for a foreign vessel last autumn. Peter Hultqvist announced on Thursday that the government planned to boost protection from potential intruders in Swedish waters, by increasing defence spending by six billion kronor ($696 million) between 2016 and 2020. Prime Minister Stefan Löfven previously mooted strengthening the country's navy after revealing that S...more »

[image: USS Wyoming (SSBN-742)]A group of male submarine sailors traded illicit videos of female officers in various stages of undress as though they were Pokemon trading cards, a U.S. Navy prosecutor said Thursday. Navy prosecutors presented evidence against two of 12 male sailors accused of illegally making and trading videos of female officers aboard a nuclear submarine that was among the first to allow American women to serve alongside men. The two men in court Thursday, both missile technicians aboard the USS Wyoming nuclear submarine, were accused of trading the videos with ot...more »

*The Intercept*: *The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple’s Secrets* *RESEARCHERS WORKING with the Central Intelligence Agency have conducted a multi-year, sustained effort to break the security of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, according to top-secret documents obtained by The Intercept.* *The security researchers presented their latest tactics and achievements at a secret annual gathering, called the “Jamboree,” where attendees discussed strategies for exploiting security flaws in household and commercial electronics. The conferences have spanned nearly a decade, with the first CIA-sponsore...more »

[image: Soryu class SSK]Today, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, is beginning a three day visit to Taipei for talks over a wide range of issues, including future arms sales. According to the Taipei Times, arms talks are likely to concentrate on requested U.S. technical aid for domestic submarines. “Royce is thought to favor helping with the submarines, but without support from U.S. President Barack Obama, the legislators have limited power in this area,” the newspaper notes. In 2001, the Bush administration agreed to help Taiwan...more »

This item fills in critical blanks in our developing conjecture regarding the moon. Yet most interpretation lacks a larger understanding of what is possible and plausible. For newcomers, i have only recently woken up to the true artificial nature of the moon although its anomalous nature has always been apparent. *Conjecture * The moon is an artificial construct put in place when Earth was very young and generally similar to Venus today. It was initially very close to the Earth and tidal effects agressively kneeded the surface rocks to produce the separation of crustal r...more »

The direct consequence of refusing to talk to your neighbor and settle on dispute management arrangements is that you lose control to the neighbor with more power. There is nothing here that is right. Yet it is the natural and necessary result of Arab leadership refusal to treat at all or then treat in bad faith. Today we have millions of Arabs in the west. We could dis-invite them tomorrow morning and hurl all of then back into their tribal world. But we do not. The original Israelis were so invited. They refused to be subjugated as a matter of process applied to non Musl...more »

You are looking at the device that will likely make practical fusion energy possible. It is an astonishing piece of difficult machining so seeing it finished is a huge relief. Keep in mind that this is also the same density as gold. It weights 70 kilos. I also suspect that my own recent work can now be applied to this device to produce a highly ordered electron flow and possibly reduce capacitor demand. The main trick however will be order itself. Sixteen ribbons of coherent semi bound electrons will be much easier to manipulate, *Tungsten Cathode Completed, En Route to ...more »

First of this article is observing a coincidence that is also linked to growing sugar consumption at least. Then it turns into an attack on the processed oil industry generally by establishing that rancidity is converted into trans fats and then not disclosed at all. So what is the effect? The short answer is that we do not know and that no one is measuring. However it is easy to understand. This allows all oils to be upgraded even if the tank is somewhat rancid. There is a question regarding trans fats and health effects that is unresolved as yet. The coincidence is sugg...more »

*Wall Street Journal:* *CIA Aided Program to Spy on U.S. Cellphones* *Marshals Service uses airborne devices that mimic cell towers to scan data on thousands of cellphonesWASHINGTON—The Central Intelligence Agency played a crucial role in helping the Justice Department develop technology that scans data from thousands of U.S. cellphones at a time, part of a secret high-tech alliance between the spy agency and domestic law enforcement, according to people familiar with the work.The CIA and the U.S. Marshals Service, an agency of the Justice Department, developed technology to ...more »

*The deterioration of NASA and its contamination by mediocre Earth-bound pseudointellectuals has to be stopped and reverted* Senator Ted Cruz asked the NASA administrator Charles Bolden (who was appointed in 2009 and has played the role of an Obama puppet ever since) what is the core mission of NASA. Bolden answered that he recently read the original National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 and he concluded that NASA's core mission is space exploration along with the investigation of the Earth's environment and making the Earth a better place. If you click at the link in the pr...more »

Vic Toews, ....A Stephen Harper cabinet minister, a man who cheated on his wife, cheated on his mistress and impregnated the babysitter....Only to suddenly leave Federal politics to be come a lobbyist, and be appointed as a judge by Stephen Harper.. Now suddenly a $million dollars shows up in his common law wife`s numbered company, ..The money coming from the Peguis First Nation band in Manitoba..A First Nation who was under Vic Toews Purview for years, ..A First Nation that received hundreds of $millions in Federal funds, funds Vic Toews directly lobbied for.. Where there is smok...more »

*Sputnik*: *'Start Killing Russians': Outrageous Outburst by Fox News Military Analyst* *A retired US major general thinks an American intervention in Ukraine should involve the spilling of Russian blood.* *Robert Scales, a retired US major general and a Fox News military analyst, provided his view on the US involvement in Ukraine, describing it as a “game, set and match” situation; “the only way the US can have any effect in the region is to start killing Russians,” he stated.* *Maj. Gen. Robert Scales had been invited to the Lou Dobbs Tonight program on Tuesday to comment mostl...more »

The Supreme Leader made the comments blasting America immediately after prostate surgery, perhaps in a bid to use a show of force to convince supporters he hadn't lost his revolutionary zeal. *Business Insider*: *Here are the most likely candidates to replace Iran's ailing Supreme Leader* *Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is reportedly dying.* *The ayatollah, the final arbiter of all of Tehran's internal and external policies since 1989, is thought to have terminal cancer and his death could be imminent. * *Once Khamenei dies, Iran will undergo an important political shift. Sinc...more »

A friend, Froi Vincenton of https://vincenton.wordpress.com/ commented to my earlier points in Part 2 of this subject. He wrote, *Some people didn't ask for war. Just look at the Christians and Yazidis in Musol and other parts of Iraq. They didn't call for war. They didn't want to defend themselves by exacting reciprocal response. They were all massacred. Those who are calling for 'collective' self-defense against organized, adequately funded terror groups (by both transnational terror networks, Islamic countries and OUR GOVERNMENT) are not warmongers or hawks.* *If an organized g...more »

In Chicago today to visit one of his favorite corporate reform schools. He saw protestors waiting for him to arrive at a school and had his Suburban driver blast down an alley to take a shortcut to avoid them. Whoops, dead end. So what happens? He has to walk out with teachers and parents screaming about PARCC. What does he do? Ignore them. Is this pure poetry, or what?

A foreign mercenary in an APC on the streets of Maiduguri. The News *VOA Exclusive:* *Nigeria Brings S. African, Foreign Mercenaries Into Boko Haram Fight * *ABUJA, NIGERIA - South African and other foreign soldiers in Nigeria are fighting against Boko Haram, engaging in ground combat and flying combat air sorties, Nigerian soldiers told VOA Thursday.The fighting comes as the Nigerian government tries to notch battlefield victories ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections later this month.Nigerian government officials confirmed the presence of foreign military personne...more »

A map showing the location of Burma's Kokang region. Graphic: RFA *Washington Times*: *Myanmar bombed Chinese village* *A Myanmar government MiG-29 fighter plane on March 8 flew over a Chinese village in the border province of Yunnan and dropped a bomb on a house believed to be a safe haven for the Kokang rebels. No major casualty was announced by either the Chinese or the Burmese side.* *Witnesses at the site reported that the MiG-29 fighter jet flew at low altitude over the Chinese village known as Mengding, causing pandemonium among the villagers watching the tense firefight o...more »

Politics and government is about power. Lust for power. That is why governments must shrink because the people who are most attracted to politics and government are most likely the ego-trippers, corrupt and extortionists. Not all of them of course, but most of them. In the current political drama in the Philippines, some sectors, politicians professioals, NGO and media leaders call for President Noynoy (PNoy) Aquino to resign, mainly because of the Mamasapano incident last January 25 where 44 cops,18 MILF fighters and 5 civilians were killed. The President indeed made a number of lo...more »

Radiation levels were quite high in Japan last couple of weeks: http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/watch-out-japan.html http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2015/03/elevated-radiation-levels-in-japan-and.html Radiation levels in the US have been slowly trending upwards, as indicated by Netc, whose data sources include EPA Radnet and private monitors. Netc is rough and incomplete data, but it provides insight into trends. I've noted for several years in my blog that elevated RadNet readings in cities under jet stream often follow elevated radiation readings in Japan by several days. ...more »

Andrea Peterson (March 10 2015). Wikipedia is suing the NSA over online spying . Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/03/10/wikipedia-is-suing-the-nsa-over-online-spying/? wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1 [Excerpted] The nonprofit behind Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation, is suing the National Security Agency and the Department of Justice over a government surveillance program.... "We are asking the court to order an end to the NSA's dragnet surveillance of Internet traffic," Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wrote in a New York Times opinion piece abo...more »

Politics and government is about power. Lust for power. That is why governments must shrink because the people who are most attracted to politics and government are most likely the ego-trippers, corrupt and extortionists. Not all of them of course, but most of them. In the current political drama in the Philippines, some sectors, politicians professioals, NGO and media leaders call for President Noynoy (PNoy) Aquino to resign, mainly because of the Mamasapano incident last January 25 where 44 cops,18 MILF fighters and 5 civilians were killed. The President indeed made a number of lo...more »

*"[C]ounty DHS workers warned the Harrises not to foster and adopt any of [the three sisters they wanted to take in], because they weren't a good match for these little girls. But the Harrises pulled strings, got the head of DHS to overrule them, and got the girls anyway. It lasted 14 months, at the most."* *-- from a DailyKos post by Buckeye BattleCry* *by Ken* If you too are just coming to this horrifying story an Arkansas state representative, his wife, and three troubled girls who had the misfortune to come under their care, *come on in!* Even though there is a certain core o...more »

One of the biggest lies still coming out of the Jew spew media these days is the constant fraud harping of lies that the Crimean Peninsula was "annexed" by Russia.... In many false and fraud news services the reports have the audacity to absolutely give the bullshit tale that Russia "invaded" (!) Crimea... These same reports try vainly to claim that the Crimeans are somehow under a "military" occupation and that they yearn for a "return" to Ukraine... Well, I am again wanting to set the records straight about Crimea, considering that it is now almost a full year since the people of ...more »

“Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus. Sometimes called the Iris Nebula and dutifully cataloged as NGC 7023 this is not the only nebula in the sky to evoke the imagery of flowers. Still, this remarkable image shows off the Iris Nebula's range of colors and symmetries in impressive detail. Within the Iris, dusty nebular material surrounds a hot, young star. * Click image for larger size.* The dominant color of the brighter reflection nebula is blue, characte...more »

*“The Journey”* by Chet Raymo "Here's a deep-deep sky map of the universe from the March 9, 2006 issue of Nature. The horizontal scale is a 360 view right around the sky; the vertical gaps at 6 hours and 24 hours are the parts of the universe that are blocked to our view by the disk of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The vertical scale - distance from Earth - is logarithmic (10, 100, 1000, etc.) measured in megaparsecs (a parsec equals 3.26 light-years). Across the top is the Big Bang, and the oldest and most distant thing we can see, the cosmic microwave background, the radiation of the...more »

*“Alt Text: A Short Course in Get-a-Life Science”* by Lore Sjöberg “There are about 250 million U.S. internet users, according to something I read on the internet, and about a quarter of them use discussion boards, according to something I read on some discussion board. And yet, I’m not seeing much evidence that the corpus of comments clogging the commons is going to produce the next Bertrand Russell, or for that matter the next Nipsey Russell. There seems to be a certain desperation in the tone of your typical bile-posting poster child. They obsessively stomp from site to site, fr...more »

*Adam J. Tiffen, Task & Purpose*: *The Outcome Of The Ongoing Battle For Tikrit Could Be A Gamechanger In Iraq* *A victory in Tikrit for the Iraqi army and Shiite militiamen could be a huge step in defeating not only ISIS’ military prowess, but its guiding vision as well.* *The battle for the Iraqi city of Tikrit is underway after more than a week of fighting between Iraqi army soldiers and Shiite militias against ISIS militants. Over 30,000 soldiers and militiamen backed by jets and helicopters launched a much-anticipated offensive against the ISIS forces currently in control of...more »

"Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your...more »

*"Clinging To The Core When Our World Falls Apart"* by The DailyOm "When external factors shift we have an opportunity to rediscover our core which is the only truly safe place to call home. There are times when our whole world seems to be falling apart around us, and we are not sure what to hold onto anymore. Sometimes our relationships crumble and sometimes it’s our physical environment. At other times, we can’t put our finger on it, but we feel as if all the walls have fallen down around us and we are standing with nothing to lean on, exposed and vulnerable. These are the times ...more »

Whitewraithe and I are having our newest edition of "Turbulent Times" tomorrow night at 8PM CDT on Blogtalk radio... www.blogtalkradio.com/turbulenttimes We will be touching on many of the current events on tomorrow night's show, and will also touch on a few other categories... It will again make for a most interesting broadcast... And as usual, we will have our chat room open at www.turbulenttimes.chatango.com.... Hopefully this gives everyone enough advance warning so that many will tune in.... We do hope to hear from you, and anyone can call in at 1-347-857-2203 as well with a...more »

We also talk about the U.S. Postal Service and grassroots efforts by workers and supporters to fight back against privatization. Interview by Thorne Dreyer | The Rag Blog | March 12, 2015 Progressive populist writer and radio commentator Jim Hightower, … finish reading Thorne Dreyer : *RAG RADIO PODCAST* | Jim Hightower on ‘the growing populist rebellion against our corporate plutocracy’

*Reuters*:* Iraqi forces slowed by snipers and bombs in Tikrit* *(Reuters) - Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi'ite militia fought Islamic State fighters in Tikrit on Thursday, a day after they pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants.* *A source at the military command said there was heavy mortar shelling, sniper and machine-gun fire in the industrial quarter in the northwest of the city. Three Islamic State insurgents were killed but the army and militias struggled to advance from parts of the city which they took 24 hours ea...more »

*Film - *Did ancient giant races really exist? Here are two films that explore that possibility and the "giants" potential link to alien life forms on earth. The post Was There a Race of Giant Humans on Earth? appeared first on Waking Times.

*Ian Black, The Guardian:* *How international divisions contributed to Syria's war without end* *After four years of conflict, it is clear President Assad’s allies have been more determined to keep him in power than his enemies have been to remove himNo one knows how Syria’s war will end. Four years of violence, destruction and instability have had a terrible impact on millions of its people, on the country and the wider Middle East. But it is already clear that international divisions over the greatest crisis of the 21st century have contributed to its severity and longevity....more »

*BBC:* *Islamic State 'accepts' Boko Haram's allegiance pledge* *Islamic State (IS) has accepted a pledge of allegiance from Nigeria's militant group Boko Haram, according to an audio message.In the tape, which has not been verified, an IS spokesman says the aim of establishing a caliphate has now been expanded to West Africa.Last week, Boko Haram posted a message saying it wanted to join ranks with IS.Boko Haram began a military campaign to impose Islamist rule in northern Nigeria in 2009.The conflict has since spread to neighbouring states.* *MIDDLE EAST* U.S.-led force...more »

Adm. William Gortney. DOD photo *CNN:* *U.S. admiral raises alarm over Russian military threat* *Washington (CNN)The ability of the U.S. and Canadian military to defend North America could be jeopardized by stepped up Russian military activity, according to the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command.* *Adm. William Gortney told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that Russia is continuing to work on its program to deploy "long-range conventionally armed cruise missiles," that can be launched from its bomber aircraft, submarines and warships. This is ...more »

*“How to Become a Conservative in Four Embarrassing Steps”* By Paul Buchheit “Not that we'd want to. But many Americans, perplexingly, have taken that path in the last ten years, as 27 percent of those polled now consider themselves 'mostly' or 'consistently' conservative, up from 18 percent in 2004. (Conservatives were at 30 percent in 1994. Liberals increased from 21 to over 30 percent in the 1990s and have remained approximately the same since then.) The language of true conservatives often turns to denial, dismissal, and/or belligerence, without verifiable facts of any substan...more »

One could be forgiven for thinking that the election of a popular Democrat president in 2008 who had promised peace and an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that the world could have looked forward to peaceful days ahead. Instead the war in Iraq has backfired on the US and has led directly to the mess the Middle East now finds itself in as the Islamic State (IS) spreads its poison across the region. All that President Obama seems to have achieved is to postpone what now seems to be the inevitable explosion that will likely occur after he has gone. Obama’s failure to stabilis...more »

*No matter how much nonsense spewed by Western leadership via the dizzying spin from war mongering, corporate western media- The Crimeans are very happy to be back, at home, with Russia- Not a surprise since they voted to do just that* * CSM * *A telephone poll conducted by a German firm among Crimeans in January found that over 80 percent of respondents were happy to be newly-minted Russians.* *One Year Later, Crimeans Prefer Russia *A far more rigorous survey, conducted on the ground in Crimea by two US professors working with the independent Levada Center in Moscow, arrived at ...more »

I am linking a number of reports. Can't be sure if this individual is an actual Canadian citizen. It doesn't seem to be the case. That said, the individual arrested in Turkey most definitely looks to be an employee/ affiliate of Canadian Intelligence Services. *Info obtained from 4 sources-* h/t anonymous commenter! *Daily Sabah* - **Toronto Sun * - **Globe and Mail* - **WSJ* A Turkish government official told The Associated Press that t*he suspect has been detained for more than a week*. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of rules that bar officials ...more »

In the realm of social media disasters—and, although I never thought I’d ever write these words, this could be an *important *social media disaster—this is a big one. Clearly advised by the same people as BFF-to-the-dictators George Galloway, Hamas have launched a 5-day Twitter campaign to clear up “misconceptions” and “misinformation” about its activities. On the one hand, it’s been an outrageous success, the hashtag reaching more than 170,000 accounts, according to Tweet analysis site Tweetreach. On the other hand, well, here’s just some of the more recent questions… [image: im...more »

*Governor Krispy is flanked by two members of the crackerjack Krispyteam he installed as New Jersey's half of the leadership team of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: now-former Deputy Exec Director Bill Baroni (left) and the Krispyman's high school chum David Wildstein, uh, some other fat guy who just went to the same high school at the same time as the governor.* *"Let me just clear something up, okay? About my 'childhood friend' David Wildstein. We didn't travel in the same circles in high school. You know, I was the class president, and an athlete. I don't know wha...more »

and the Times and Transcript still hasn't appeared. If it were owned by government and operated by civil servants, the editorialist and Norbert would be ranting about how inefficient civil servants are, and would be demanding the paper be privatized so it could be run by clever billionaires. Well, let's start again with items that might (or might not) catch the eyes of TandT editors. According to the Toronto Star, 83% of electricity in Syria is cut. Life expectancy has dropped by 20 years - of course it has dropped. Besides the war, there's terrible malnutritution, lack of medical s...more »

Muzaffar Salman/Reuters *Khaled Diab, Al Jazeera:* *The jihadist selfie is changing the image of holy war* *Rambo-like selfies taken by western jihadists may be part of a deliberate strategy for recruitment.* *t was a miracle of selfie-preservation. A 14-year-old British schoolboy on a skiing holiday in Austria improbably survived, with only a few bruises and scratches, a 500-metre drop after slipping while shooting a selfie.* *And if his phone survived the fall too, the teenager may just have snapped himself the kind of digital self-portrait that will make him the awe of his Fac...more »

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I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.